Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 2,789 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. cut its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,789 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $185,649,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Charles Schwab by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $80.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $142.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $78.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.